Long time no see. I usually zone out during November to do National Novel Writing Month, and this year was no different. It is December now though, so I am back, and going hard on being active and present. So for that reason I am doing this newsletter. Regardless of how you are seeing this, Howdy!

The year is almost over. I know December is a month of mixed activity. A lot of people are off seeing family, but for many people it is a time of heavy retail work. Usually that second one would be me (I recently escaped retail hell). I'm not worried about engi becoming a bursting utopia of activity during December. I want to spend this time making sure engi is prepared for the bounce-back that will come in the following months. That will mean a couple of things, and it may mean something different to those of you reading this.

First of all, Clan and Organization payment is up in Announcements. I want to hit these on the 1st whenever possible, and I want people to remind me if I ever miss doing this. Clans and Orgs are important to the site, and I want to continue supporting their moderation and activity.

Second, the Global Arc needs some sprucing up. I'm going to look into speeding it up and trimming it down. I want Calamity Mountain done this year, one way or another. We did too much during the drive to have the arcs you folks earned gummed up this way.

Speaking of, I've been asked to do another payment drive in February. That is my birthday month, so I'm okay with that. I'll look into what I can offer for it. Please look forward to it.

I want to make better use of the brilliant people here on engi. That is to say, I want to hear more of what you folks want, need, suggest. If you have anything to ask me, say to me, suggest to me, always feel free to PM me or message me in our discord (this applies to staff as well). I may not respond immediately, but I usually will within a day. Be proactive in what you are asking. Stuff you are willing to try to do yourself has a greater chance of getting off the ground. If I am going to say no to a suggestion, it is either because it is a change that causes more problems than it fixes, or a change that has no one to act on it.

I also want to clean up and look at the Elders of Engi process. Our elders are great, always have been, but I don't feel like it is easy to listen to them as much as I want to.

Okay, that is all my thoughts for December. I'll see most of you on the forum or in chat. See you guys next month!